Vigilance court orders probe against S Sarma

THRISSUR: The Vigilance Court here has ordered a probe against former Registration and Fisheries Minister S Sarma and 17 others for allegedly causing the state exchequer a loss of Rs 19 crore by waiving stamp duty and registration on the land transferred to Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) to build the proposed Edakochi cricket stadium.The court directed the Vigilance to file its report before September 17. Former minister Sarma is the 12th accused in the case with KCA secretary T C Mathew and president T R Balakrishnan being the first and second accused, respectively.    KCA executive members constitute the first 10 accused in the list, which also includes five partners of LIS - a financial institution from whom KCA bought the land in 2009. Also included in the list as the 13 accused is Marapandian, former principal secretary of the Tax Department.   The court move comes after a petition filed by social activist Joy Kaitharath alleging that the state exchequer had lost Rs 19.14 crore by way of taxes owing to the ‘corrupt deal.’ The petition alleges that the state government and KCA suffered a loss of Rs 17.4 crore in registration and the rest on waiving stamp duty on the land.When LIS bought the land in Edakochi in 2005, its price was Rs 10,000 for one cent and in 2009, it rose to Rs 40,000.   However, in 2009, the KCA had bought the land for Rs 1.18 lakh, thereby, causing a huge loss to the government and KCA.